Gilbert Martinez
Gilbérto "Gil" Vidál Andrés Martínez (b. May 12, 1997), whose name is often Americanized to "Gilbert Martinez" or "Gilberto Martinez," is an aspiring Mexican-American author. Biography in Short Gilbert was born in the town of Pasadena, TX, on Monday, May 12, 1997 at 13:40 CST 1 to two young people, both born in late 1977, who divorced that December. In October 2001, Gilbert's mother married Patrick Ramos, though he and his sister Natalie refused to change their surnames. In October 2004, when he was seven years old, he and his family moved to Wiesbaden, Hesse, Germany. Then, on August 1, 2007, the family moved again, this time to the city of University Place, WA, where they reside to this day. The family plans to move in 2015 to either San Antonio, TX, or Germany. Childhood Life (1997 - 2009) 'In Texas' As shown earlier, Gilbert was born in Pasadena, Texas, on May 12, 1997. His mother recalls that he was born "with a banana nose and a red, angry face." In fact, his early childhood consisted of nothing but violent rage, though he was rather quiet; he didn't speak a word until 2001, when he was 4 years old. By then, he was much more at ease and happy. As a young child, he never really knew his own father much. Months after his birth, Gilbert's parents divorced from a marriage that started in late 1993. Gilbert came to know relatives of his father, and, eventually, his father. His father had remarried in the late 1990's or early 2000's and had started having children throughout the 2000's. The eldest son was born in 2002, and the youngest son was born in the late 2000's. Of the five children Gilbert's father had with his new wife, none of them looked as much like him as Gilbert did. Gilbert had inherited nearly all of his father's physical appearance, excepting his eyes and nose, which both were inherited from his mother. Gilbert remembers when Eddie, the eldest of his younger half-brothers, was very young and that he talked to him in the mid-2000's. In October 2004, Gilbert moved to Germany because his stepfather, born in early 1975, had been stationed there by the U.S. Army, which he had joined in 2002. 'In Germany' Gilbert remembers the move to Germany as being very difficult for him to cope with. He had made many great friends, such as Edward Lopez, who he found out was in the same hospital and the next door over on the same day he was born, though Gilbert is approximately 4 or 5 hours older than Edward. He remembers the flight being very long - between 8 and 10 hours from Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport to Frankfurt's Airport. He felt the wind was very cold when he stepped out of the plane, and his mother recalls being absolutely bewildered; all of the signs were in German, and the family had absolutely no knowledge of the German language. Gilbert retells the story through his mother's words here. After a long flight from Houston, TX, to Frankfurt, Germany, we finally arrived at the airport. My new home, Wiesbaden (VEEZ-bah-den), was only a short drive away, but we first had to traverse through the airport. The first thing that got us confused were the signs around the entire place; they were all in German (keep in mind that we didn't study any German in advance), but eventually, we found our way outside. We waited for my dad (he was already in Germany for a year), when my mom realized we were waiting in the taxi zone (dad was gonna pick us up in his car). We moved to a different spot that was away from the taxi zone, but mom realized she forgot her purse behind. When she went back to get it, the German Police (Polizei in German, pronounced pul-IHT-sai) had surrounded it. That is because, in Germany, it is believed that any handbag that is left behind by anyone contains terrorist objects. She got to the police, confused, and one yelled at her in German, his gun pointed straight at her. Basically, he said, "Tell us the contents of your bag! (which would probably have been like "Erzählen Sie uns den Inhalt Ihrer Tasche!")" Another translated his words for her, and she told them the contents of her purse. The translating policeman then told her to show said contents. After that whole ordeal, all of the policemen relaxed, smiled, and said, "Okay. Have a nice day." Moments later, dad drove up happy and smiling, unaware of the previous happenings, and that was the first half-hour we spent in Germany! Pretty crazy stuff, huh? ~ Gilbert Martinez, October 16, 2011 Gilbert's experience in Germany was indeed a happy one. He felt very happy and curious of German lifestyle as he lived in the city of Wiesbaden, the capital of the province of Hesse. Despite the fact that he doesn't remember much about Germany, Gilbert longs to return to Germany some day. Those feelings sprouted on the day of August 1, 2007, where he left Germany and moved to University Place, Washington. That September, he started the fifth grade at Narrows View Intermediate, a school year he regards being "the worst school year he ever had." 'In Washington' He was teased about his peculiar smell and buck teeth, and it was to the point where his entire homeroom class was making fun of him. He was moved to a partner classroom, where the bullying was much less rampant. To add insult to injury, Gilbert had also acquired head lice from his school in Germany, resulting in his early expulsion from school for the rest of the year. Sixth grade, School Year 2008-09, proved to be much more jovial for Gilbert. There, he made friends with his homeroom teacher Mr. Greller, his counselor Mrs. Ashlock, and other students. It was a much lighter time for Gilbert, and the bullying had toned itself down dramatically. After the end of the year, though, deep grief struck Gilbert and his family. On June 28, 2009, just days before the family's yearly visit to Texas, Gilbert's paternal grandfather had succumbed to his illnesses and passed away. Two funerals were held in Pasadena, Texas, that June; one at the local cemetery, and the other one at the Catholic church of Saint Pius V. To this day, Gilbert feels grateful that he was the only one to serve at his grandfather's funeral at Saint Pius V. He was strong and held in his tears for the entire service, and then he finally broke down after the service in the robe room. At the time, Gilbert was 12 years of age. Seventh grade started in August that year, and the tragedy was (and still is) fresh in his mind. However, he moved on in life by the second week of September. Gilbert had a great time in the seventh grade, making new friends and discovering new things about himself. He was very happy and vivacious by the turn of the decade. Teenage Life (2010 - Today) By the turn of the decade, Gilbert had entered adolescence, resulting many ups and downs in his teenage life. '2010' Gilbert had entered a life making YouTube videos on June 23, 2009, and he had continued to do so well into the 2010s. In the sixth grade, Gilbert had been diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed Adderall XR pills starting at 15 mg, and they had reached 25 mg by the end of 2009. He was supposed to take a 20 mg pill, but he took a 25 mg pill by mistake and ended up falling unconscious at school that afternoon at 1:45 PM PST. He was rushed to Madigan Hospital in Fort Lewis, though thankfully there was no significant causes for concern. Weeks later, the doctors took Gilbert off of the medication because they believe it caused him to acquire scizophrenia. Life returned to normal soon afterward. The day was June 28, 2010, and school had been over for a week. Gilbert's sister had taken Gilbert along to meet her friends at a picnic in Homestead Park. All had gone exceptionally well. Gilbert recalls the day's events. Everything went swimmingly until Emily Velazquez and her boyfriend came about. Granted, they were amiable, yet things started going wrong when Emily was playing around with a lighter and hairspray can, combining them to make a homemade flamethrower. We had all warned her when she accidentally burned her boyfriend's right hand, yet she kept on going. She finally stopped when she accidentally burned the left side of my face and neck from behind. She told me that she intended to just scare me, but she was too close. Half of my hair was singed and smoking, and pain rang throughout the part of my face that was burnt. I was thankful that it was nothing more than a first-degree burn. Nat wanted me to keep it a secret and that I should take a shower to wash it all off. The stinging sensation the water brought about made me say to her, "Nat, I don't want to keep it a secret anymore." So, we told mom and dad, and they brought me to the nearest hospital. Later that evening, dad confronted a policeman and told him everything Nat and I told him and mom. The policeman asked me, "You're not used to getting torched, huh?" We all laughed at that. That night, Emily gave me a rose and apologized for burning me. I forgave her. The cruel fact is that this incident occurred nearly a year after Grandpa passed away. That incident still haunts me, like a battle scar from a war. ~ Gilbert Martinez, 2011 That incident forever remains inside of Gilbert's subconscious, as with his grandfather's death. In late 2010, during eighth grade, Gilbert began writing his first novels at the age of 13 years (though, unlike Gloria Tesch, he doesn't boast that he is the world's youngest author, when the reality is that the world's youngest author wrote her first novel at age 4), starting with Eggman's Last Stand and A Second War. He continued writing novels well into 2011, though briefly went on hiatus due to family and school. '2011' Early in 2011, Gilbert successfully completed A Second War and showed it to his friend Matt Lyman, who took the book very well. Gilbert originally decided to end the ''Unending Warfare'' trilogy with A Second War, seeing as how the conclusion of the novel reads as follows: "It is now the year 2034. It has been twenty-three years since that war, and now I am thirty-seven years old. I still have Ren's name tag in mint condition to this day, and I plan to tell my children the same story before I die and have them tell their children my story in the exact same manner. I have been through hell. I have been through the deepest depths of sadness that no one had ever dared to go. I plan to see my friends again in the near future. Maybe it'll happen. Maybe it won't. There's no way to know. Maybe they're with me right now" (Martinez 42). 2011 proved to be a creative year for Gilbert, as he tried writing stories that he created from the top of his head. They didn't work out, though, thus nearly all of 2011 was a period of hiatus for Gilbert. However, the hiatus ended on December 14, 2011, where he started writing Darkness Lurks and drew plans for Nine Years. '2012' 2012 proved to be even more of a creative year for Gilbert. A long-dead inspiration came alive again, and he perfected his prose by writing many poems and novels, such as this one he wrote on May 14, 2012, written in a Shakespearean style. :'Tis such a sin to tell a squalid lie.:Shall soon I say such things, I'll sooner die.:'Tis a fire that doth burns on thine very tongue.:Its words are 'nough to scorch my very lung. :Its deceit hath prov'n to put my blood to rest, :And when I hear it, fear runs through my breast. :Do look yonder, to a world of cleanliness, :A world where lies doth 'vade thine godliness. :Avast, thou sweet, thou movèd, d'votèd ears, :The lies hath dost confirmèd my worst fears. :The people in this world have shown to not :Stand for one oth'r and leave their lies to rot :In Hell, whence they came and they all belong. :'Tis hopeless to conform this very throng :To good life, and to happiness prov'n immune :To death and ill and murder all astrewn. :'Tis hopeless for me. I doth hangeth my head with shame. :For this, I shant e'er feel so pit'fully same. :Pity me, for I hath purgèd thy d'votèd trust. :Pity me and take this my life, if thou must. :A life in a day, a day in a life, :Yet 'tis still an infinite, nev'r-ending strife. Early in 2012, Gilbert decided to write the books Nine Years, Eddy, and The Gift, each of which are in their early stages of writing. Bibliography Notes # 13:40 is 24-hour time and means 1:40 pm. CST stands for Central Standard Time, which is a time zone. CST is the same thing as GT-6; when it's 12:00 pm in Greenwich, England, it's 6:00 am in CST. # Patrick Ivan Stevenson is based on the original name intended for Gilbert: Patrick Ivan Martinez.